Taiheiki

Chapter 52 Benefits
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Jiangling, the prefectural governor's residence, the inner residence.

"Your subordinate greets the Lord!" Wei Cong bowed to Han Chun who was sitting above him.

"Meng De, please stand up!" Han Chun's plump cheeks were filled with smiles. He pointed to the table on his right: "Come, come, sit down and talk! Zhang Bolu has been rampant in Jiangbei for nearly twenty years, and you led fifty county soldiers to wipe out his lair and exterminate his entire family. Well done! I will definitely make a note of this when the year-end statistics are submitted!"

"Yes!" Wei Cong carefully walked to the table and sat down, saying what he had learned from workplace dramas, "Actually, I rely on your prestige above and the soldiers' dedication below. I dare not take all the credit for myself!"

"Hahaha! Meng De, Meng De, you really are..." Han Chun laughed. The man in front of him became more and more pleasing to his eyes: capable, good at talking, with a backer but not greedy for credit, and most importantly, he has good eyesight and remembers his boss after getting benefits; why didn't he meet such a subordinate earlier?

"Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore!" Han Chun waved his hand, signaling the maids and attendants in the hall to leave, leaving only himself and Wei Cong. "Your appointment as a thief's official has been finalized. You can pick up the seal and ribbon when you leave."

"Thank you, Lord!" Although this was something he had known for a long time, Wei Cong would still feel uneasy until he got the seal. He was determined in his heart and hurriedly bowed again. He pulled a piece of silk paper from his sleeve and presented it with both hands: "Lord, this is what I found in Zhang's Wu Fort. Please check it!"

"Hmm!" Han Chun casually took the paper but didn't look at it, setting it aside. "Meng De! You're different from the other officials; you're a foreigner. Do you plan to stay here permanently in Nanjun?"

Wei Cong's heart skipped a beat. Why would this guy ask such a question? Could he have guessed my plan?

"Yes, I do intend to stay here permanently!"

"Well! That's good!" Han Chun nodded with a smile. "To be honest, the powerful families in Nanjun are quite powerful. Although I am the governor, I can't always do everything I want. I'm very happy that you are willing to stay here permanently, Meng De. I have an additional helping hand."

Han Chun's words were full of meaning. Wei Cong became even more cautious after hearing them. He replied carefully, "I am a man appointed by the Lord of the Mansion. Naturally, I will obey His orders!"

"Haha!" Han Chun waved his hand. "Common sense suggests that's true. But you're a little different. When you first came to me, you came with Deng Zhong from Wancheng. You know his family's background. How could I dare treat you like an ordinary official?"

Wei Cong listened to Han Chun's words, which seemed to be a warning and a question. He didn't know how to respond and could only lower his head in silence. Han Chun didn't seem to care about Wei Cong's reaction at all and asked, "Meng De, do you know why I didn't even look at the list you gave me?"

"My subordinates don't know!"

"There are two reasons. First, there are rules for this kind of disposal. Deng Zhong gets one, I get one, the county gets one, and you, as the person handling it, can also take one. That's about it. It's not too much, and it's not too little either. I'm just being lazy and not bothering to look at it. As for the second reason? The key to the Zhang family's disposal is not these superficial wealth. No matter how much copper coins and cloth there are, they will eventually run out. The foundation of every family is still on the land. That's the key. There are other people's eyes on this matter!"

"My Lord, do you mean that the wealthy and powerful people in the county are also interested in her?" Wei Cong asked carefully.

"That's right!" Han Chun nodded. He was very satisfied with Wei Cong's cleverness. Everyone likes to discuss things with smart people. It saves both trouble and effort. "As the county governor, I don't care about the Zhang family's land. After all, the Han family's roots are not in Nanjun. I will be leaving here in five or six years at most, or three or four at least. But those people are different. Their roots have been here for generations, and their ancestral tombs are all here. For them, this piece of land of the Zhang family is very valuable!"

Hearing Han Chun's words, Wei Cong felt relieved. Han Chun had just gone so far as to point out that the county's powerful families were competing with him for the Zhang family's inheritance. There must be a solution; it was simply a matter of waiting for a price. To put it bluntly, as Han Chun had just said, it would be useless for him to claim the Zhang family's inheritance himself. While he didn't know why the Zhang family was unwilling to give it to the county's powerful families, since he came to him, it meant he had something to ask of him. If that was the case, it was nothing more than bargaining. What was there for him to worry about?
"If the County Magistrate needs anything from me, please speak up! As long as it's within my ability, I won't refuse!"

"Okay, okay!" Han Chun stroked his beard and laughed. "I like your straightforward personality, Mengde. Okay, since you're so straightforward, I won't beat around the bush. I only want you to do one thing, and the Zhang family's assets will belong to you, Mengde. That is, just like we did to Zhang Bolu, eliminate all the bandits in this county!"

"Eliminate all the bandits in this county?" Wei Cong's mind raced. He suddenly remembered what Wang Shou had said to him: 'Bandits are nothing but dogs kept by the powerful.' He hesitated for a moment, then asked cautiously, "Lord, you're not planning to take action against the powerful families in this county, are you?"

This time it was Han Chun's turn to be surprised. He looked at Wei Cong in surprise and was speechless for a long time.

"It seems I guessed right!" Wei Cong smiled. "My Lord, should I applaud your courage? Or should I be worried about your recklessness?"

Han Chun sighed: "It seems that Deng Zhong really found a smart person this time. Let me ask you, how did you guess it?"

"It's simple! I'm your thief officer, and apprehending thieves is my duty. If you were simply asking us to eliminate the thieves in this county, you wouldn't have had to mention it specifically. Since you've specifically mentioned it, it's probably more than just apprehending thieves. Besides, aren't thieves everywhere, after all, dogs kept by the powerful in this county? You asked me to kill the dog, so naturally, the next step is to kill the owner."

Han Chun looked at Wei Cong for a long time and sighed, "Yes, I do have that intention! But from what you said, it seems you probably don't want to do it anymore?"

"No!" Wei Cong shook his head.

"You know who is behind those thieves, and you are still willing?" Han Chun looked at Wei Cong in surprise.

"When I killed Zhang Bolu, I never thought about who was behind him!" Wei Cong laughed, "Besides, since I want the Zhang family's inheritance, I have to offend a lot of people anyway, so I might as well offend the worst ones!"

"That's right! I forgot you have someone behind you!" Han Chun nodded: "Okay, then you will send 200,000 yuan to the Chief Clerk tomorrow!"

"Two hundred thousand coins? From the Chief Clerk? Why?"

"According to imperial law, the Zhang family's land is to be confiscated by the government. To make it yours, you have to sell it. Two hundred thousand coins is the price of the land. Isn't that a lot?" Han Chun laughed. "Not much, not much!" Wei Cong was speechless at Han Chun's audacity. Over seven hundred hectares of land, plus Wu Castle, for a total of two hundred thousand coins. Wasn't this prefect afraid of being accused of corruption?

Han Chun saw what Wei Cong was thinking and laughed, "Don't worry. Nanjun is at war right now. Luoyang is too lazy to deal with these trivial matters right now. The most important thing is to pacify the Wuling barbarians as soon as possible. Do you understand?"

"What about after he pacifies the Wuling barbarians? He has already resigned and doesn't need to worry about these things anymore? What about me who is still in Nanjun? What does it have to do with him?" Wei Cong thought to himself, but he didn't say much, just nodded.

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"My dear, what happened?" Seeing Wei Cong coming out, Zhao Yannian, who was waiting outside the door, hurried to greet him.

"Look, I just changed it!" Wei Cong took out the seal of the thief Cao Yuan from the leather bag at his waist and waved it in front of Zhao Yannian. Zhao Yannian hurriedly bowed and said, "Congratulations, sir, congratulations, sir!"

"There's nothing much to congratulate. It's still a bronze seal and a yellow ribbon! It's just that the ribbon has more colors!" Wei Cong said casually as he got on the carriage.

"You can't say that!" Zhao Yannian laughed. "Although the thief Cao Yuan only has 200 dan, he is a trusted confidant of the prefect. Besides, how long have you been in office? With your talent and ability, 600 or even 1,000 dan would only take three to five years. My dear, please be patient!"

"A thousand shi? It's just a county magistrate!" Wei Cong smiled, thinking to himself, "I'll still be manipulated and become someone else's pawn." He closed his eyes and pondered silently. Zhao Yannian was afraid of disturbing Wei Cong's thoughts, so he held his breath and waited patiently.

"Prolong life!"

"Here!" Zhao Yannian responded quickly.

"Tomorrow, select a few capable people and bring 200,000 yuan to the prefectural governor's mansion and hand it over to the chief clerk!"

"Yes!" Zhao Yannian replied.

"Yannian!" Wei Cong opened his eyes. "Let me ask you something. If there was a path before you that would kill tens of millions of people, would you still take it?"

"Haha!" Zhao Yannian laughed twice. "My dear, have you forgotten my background? I joined the army before I even had my first birthday. For over twenty years, I've fought in countless battles. Every day I've been killing people. What choice do I have?"

"Yes, I overthink it!" Wei Cong laughed self-deprecatingly: "There are no choices in this world. If you are timid and don't move forward, you will only end up dead!"

"What's wrong? Does Governor Han have any instructions?" Zhao Yannian asked sensitively.

"Haha!" Wei Cong smiled and told Han Chun everything he had said. There was nothing to hide about this kind of thing. Zhao Yannian was the most capable general under his command. Especially since they were going to wipe out the bandits in the county, it was impossible to hide it from him. It would be better to make it clear as soon as possible.

"The governor is using you as a knife!" Zhao Yannian said angrily, "He wants to deal with the powerful families in the county, but he doesn't want to do it himself, so he puts you in the front!"

"I know that too!" Wei Cong nodded nonchalantly. "But there's nothing we can do about it. It's like twelve people are drinking in the palace, and the room is already full. Then another person comes up, also wanting to drink. What do you think the other people drinking in the palace will think of this new person?"

"I guess they'll really hate the person who comes after them!" Zhao Yannian said. He immediately realized, "You mean the twelve people drinking in the palace are from prominent families in the county, and we are the one who comes after us?"

"That's right!" Wei Cong nodded. "In fact, the benefits within this county are fixed. How much each powerful family can get is also fixed within a certain period of time. Now that we're here, we have to redistribute the benefits. Which family will contribute and how much will contribute? This is a troublesome matter. Compared to this, driving us out is what the powerful families in the county wanted to do in the first place!"

"But, but my lord! At most, we only plan to take over the Zhang family's foundation, and we don't plan to touch anything else!" Zhao Yannian asked.

"Hahaha!" Wei Cong laughed. "You think that if we wipe out the Zhang family, their Wubao land and fields should be ours. But in the eyes of the great families in this county, we are nothing more than stray dogs from outside. We killed Zhang Bolu's family and took some of their wealth and food, but we can't take the fields and Wubao. They should divide them up. Besides, why should they trust you and I won't touch anything else? Judging from the way we exterminated the Zhang family, they are not easy to deal with!"

This time, Zhao Yannian fell silent. A thought suddenly flashed through his mind—could exterminating the Zhang family be just the first step in his master's plan? At this thought, his heart was suddenly filled with a frenzied joy. A ruler chooses his scholars, and scholars choose their ruler. As a scholar, what greater fortune could there be than meeting a master with grand ambitions?
"I understand!" Zhao Yannian said solemnly, "Please rest assured, my lord. If you truly intend to wipe out the bandits in this county, please leave the offensive and offensive to me!"

"Yes!" Wei Cong nodded. "I'm currently a clerk in the Thief's Office. Under me are the Thief's Clerk and the Thief's Assistant. You'll start as the Left Clerk of the Thief's Office. Count for me how many men and weapons the Nanjun Thief's Office originally had. It would be even better if there were maps and documents. Keep a good inventory of them all and don't lose them. The people in this Thief's Office are all locals, and they must have connections to the big families in this county. Don't be careless!"

"Don't worry, my lord. I'll leave everything to you!"

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Wei Cong took Zhao Yannian straight to the headquarters of the Bandit Division and summoned all the officials present. Without further ado, Wei Cong took out his seal and displayed it to everyone. Then he said, "I am Wei Cong, the new official of the Bandit Division. You are all members of this division and, from now on, your subordinates. First, state your names so I can know you!"

There were over twenty attendants in the yamen. Though somewhat surprised, they had clearly heard of Wei Cong's reputation. Obediently, they stepped forward, saluted, and reported their names, hometowns, and positions. Wei Cong noted each one down. From them, he learned that the thief yamen had around fifty attendants. On weekdays, they would come to the yamen in the mornings for roll call, report, and assign tasks, then disperse to the surrounding villages to carry out their errands. Today was the day to collect their pickle payment, so more people had come. Otherwise, there would usually be only five or six people in the yamen at this time of day.

(End of this chapter)